Patient Navigator and Community Health Worker Attitudes Toward End-of-Life Care.

There are racial/ethnic disparities in hospice use and end-of-life (EOL) care outcomes in the United States. Although the use of community health workers (CHWs) and patient navigators (PNs) has been suggested as a means of reducing them, CHW/PNs' attitudes toward a palliative care philosophy remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine how personal attributes affect a CHW/PN's attitude toward EOL care. CHWs/PNs were recruited from two state-wide organizations and invited to complete an online survey. We collected information on demographics, attitudes toward the palliative care philosophy, and comfort with caring for patients at the EOL. Of the 70 CHWs/PNs who responded to the survey, 82.5% identified as female, 56.4% identified as black, and 56.2% had a four-year college degree or higher. The mean score on a validated scale to assess attitudes toward EOL care was 33.5 (SD = 4.9; possible range, 8-40). Eighty percent strongly agreed or agreed with being open to discussing death with a dying patient. Higher self-efficacy scores were associated with more favorable attitudes toward hospice ( = 0.306,  = 0.016). CHWs/PNs have an overall favorable attitude toward the palliative care philosophy and may be inclined to providing EOL care.